Ancient Egypt was a unique state; our planet did not know any other such formation. The history of this country began around 4000 BC and ended at the time of Octavian Augustus and Jesus Christ. There is not a single state that officially existed anymore. It is not for nothing that many historians are inclined to consider Egyptology as a separate science. The contribution of the heritage of Ancient Egypt to the history of modern mankind is perhaps even greater than that of the Roman Empire.
We all remember that gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, and the movable block was invented by the ancient Greeks. And what about the Egyptians? In Ancient Egypt, a huge number of innovations were invented, without which the development of civilization could move at a snail's pace for a long time. For example, the Egyptians were the first to think of harnessing oxen to the plow; The plow was known to mankind several thousand years before the Egyptians, however, it was attached to the legs of animals, and only the Egyptians invented a normal harness in the form of a collar. This seemingly unimportant invention for us was akin to the discovery of a steam engine in modern times, since it accelerated the process of soil cultivation several times. Paper (in the form of papyrus), ink and a pen were also invented by the Egyptians - before that the entire "civilized" world used clay tablets. The Egyptians were the first to make astronomy a science and put it at the service of humanity. The list goes on and on.
The Egyptians gave humanity the institutions of religion in the form in which they currently exist. The ideas of all religions about the afterlife and a possible life after death have their roots in ancient Egypt. And religion has played a colossal role in the life of this country throughout its history. The separation of the priests into a separate caste, the transfer of the functions of keepers of ancient knowledge and moral principles to them - all this was first done by the Egyptians. Even monotheism is the invention of the Egyptians, not the ancient Jews.
Ancient Egypt was a very religious state. The quintessence of the Egyptian's existence was his preparation for life after death. Absolutely all sources that have survived to us in one form or another contain references to the importance of life after death and preparation for it. Of all the cultural heritage of Ancient Egypt, this topic is most fully disclosed in the "Book of the Dead" and in such a phenomenon as the construction of pyramids. The pyramid is a means of how to get into the afterlife, "The Book of the Dead" is an instruction on how to behave there. Having these two things, the Egyptian did not have to worry about his existence after death.
The stereotype that only pharaohs can afford such a luxury as pyramids has long been dispelled by historians. Starting from the V dynasty (2500 BC), small pyramids already appear among the nobility, and a hundred years later - among ordinary citizens. Naturally, the scope of construction of such pyramids cannot be compared with the pharaoh's tombs, but this is not important. It is important that this gesture of religious "tolerance" erases the line in the afterlife between the ruler and the very last poor man: everyone has the right to life after death. In addition, the builders of the pharaoh's tombs also have the right to a happy life in the world of the gods, because they helped the pharaoh enter there.
Modern analysis shows that the volume of chambers and corridors in pyramids is less than one tenth of a percent of the total volume of the pyramid. This means that when designing the pyramid it was necessary to calculate the size, if not of each block, then at least of every hundredth of them. The number of blocks in the Cheops pyramid is about 1 million 600 thousand pieces; even every hundredth is 16 thousand blocks, the sizes of which had to be not only calculated, but also made exactly according to the calculations. And now, the most interesting thing: the architect was one person. He had a special title - Chief Builder of the Pyramid. In total, about a hundred large pyramids were built in Egypt. Almost all of the main builders were high priests of some god of Egypt. Most often they were the priests of Thoth - the god of wisdom.
Designing the pyramid meant coming up with a plan for the interior, distributing the voids from the passages and chambers across the levels of the brickwork, and determining the types of material used. Further, it was necessary to determine the size of the blocks in the places where they would surround the passages (those same 16,000 blocks, the dimensions of which had to be observed with the greatest accuracy), arrange and mask the entrance to the pyramid, and take care of the safety of the contents. And all this fell on the shoulders of one person. Of course, he had assistants, but, making a discount for that time, we can say that the chief builder was an even more significant figure than the general designer of some aircraft or rocket is now.
But it wasn't just the architect. An important point in the process of building the pyramids was that they were not built by slaves. Moreover, the builders had very good working conditions, they were paid salaries, provided medical care, and a kind of pension was assigned. And in general, how could a powerless slave, who often does not understand all the nuances of the higher purpose of the pyramids, be allowed to build such an important object? Even banal revenge on his masters, which a slave could have done by sabotaging production, would have led to the fact that the pharaoh could not get to heaven; this was unacceptable, and therefore none of the architects of that time could even think of using slaves.
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Each chamber in the pyramid, each channel from the chamber to the outside, each gallery had its own mystical significance. As a rule, the location of cameras and rooms was done strictly according to the cardinal points or according to the positions of the constellations. The orientation of the channels is to those or other stars. All this was supposed to help the person lying in the tomb (yes, yes, not a mummy, but a person, since the spirit of the deceased, according to the beliefs of the Egyptians, often returned to the body) will quickly go to the gods.
Whatever the achievements of science, we are still far from understanding all the goals and ideas of our distant ancestors, but who knows, perhaps new research methods will soon appear, or new facts will come to light that will help us solve all the riddles of the pyramids.
